Havenly or Spacejoy for Small Living Room Design?

For a small living room, Havenly is the better choice for most shoppers who want an affordable, straightforward design plan, while Spacejoy is stronger if you need highly visual 3D layouts and more detailed room planning. Your choice should come down to budget, how much help you need with furniture placement, and how important realistic visualization is before buying.

Small living rooms are harder to furnish than they look. A sofa that seems reasonable online can overwhelm the room, while a rug that is too small can make the entire space feel disconnected. That makes online interior design services useful—but Havenly and Spacejoy approach the job differently.

Havenly vs. Spacejoy at a Glance

Factor	Havenly	Spacejoy
Best for	Affordable, simple room planning	Detailed visual room planning
Small-room layouts	Very good	Excellent
3D visualization	Included in current full-service packages	Major strength
Designer collaboration	Collaborative online design	More hands-on collaboration
Product sourcing	Shoppable design plan	Curated shopping and product alternatives
Current starting price	From about $159, depending on package or promotion	Packages start at $299
Best choice for tight budgets	Havenly	Spacejoy can cost more
Best for seeing how furniture fits	Good	Spacejoy
Best for detailed finishes	Good	Spacejoy
Best overall for a typical small living room	Havenly	Best for visualization-heavy projects

Which One Is Better for a Small Living Room?

For most small apartments and compact living rooms, Havenly gets the edge because it provides the core help most people actually need without requiring a larger design budget.

A small room usually needs help with three things:

Choosing furniture with the right scale
Creating enough seating without blocking traffic
Coordinating colors, lighting, rugs, and storage without overcrowding the room

Havenly’s current service includes a room plan, floor plan, 3D rendering, and shoppable recommendations, which covers those needs without requiring a traditional interior designer.

Spacejoy becomes more attractive when the room has a difficult shape, several fixed elements, or furniture-placement problems that are difficult to understand from a mood board alone. Its service focuses heavily on realistic 3D visualization and detailed room designs.

Choose Havenly If You Want Simplicity and Value

Havenly makes more sense when your small living room needs a practical makeover rather than a highly technical design project.

Choose Spacejoy If Visualization Is Your Biggest Concern

Spacejoy is a stronger fit when you need to see the proposed room before you commit to furniture.

That matters in a small living room because dimensions become critical. You may need to know whether a 72-inch sofa leaves enough walking space, whether an accent chair makes the room feel cramped, or whether a coffee table leaves comfortable clearance.

Spacejoy emphasizes realistic 3D visualization and detailed recommendations for furniture, lighting, flooring, paint, and window treatments.

How Havenly and Spacejoy Handle Small-Space Furniture

The biggest difference is not simply the number of products each service recommends. It is how much visual and planning help you want before buying them.

For a small room, look beyond attractive furniture photos. The design needs to account for:

Sofa width and depth
Door and window locations
Walking paths
TV placement
Coffee-table clearance
Rug size
Storage needs
Natural light
Existing furniture
Wall space
Electrical outlets
Room proportions

A good online design plan should prevent you from buying pieces that look great individually but do not work together.

A Small Living Room Example

Imagine a 10-by-12-foot apartment living room with a window on one wall, a TV on the opposite wall, and an entry door near one corner.

You already own a 72-inch sofa.

A weak design might add a large accent chair, oversized coffee table, 9-by-12-foot rug, and bulky media console. Each item could look attractive, but together they would consume too much usable floor space.

A better plan might keep the existing sofa, add a narrow accent chair, use a smaller-profile coffee table, choose an appropriately sized rug, and select a slim storage console.

This is where room measurements matter more than decorating style.

Havenly vs. Spacejoy for Budget-Conscious Apartment Owners

If your living room is small because you live in an apartment, budget is often just as important as design.

Havenly has the advantage here because its entry-level design pricing is generally lower than Spacejoy’s current starting price. Havenly also separates the design fee from the furniture budget, making it easier to think about the project in two parts.

For example, you could spend money on professional planning while keeping the actual furniture budget modest by:

Keeping your existing sofa
Buying a less expensive coffee table
Using one statement piece instead of several
Choosing ready-made curtains
Using wall-mounted storage
Buying secondhand accent furniture
Prioritizing the rug and lighting rather than replacing everything

You do not need to furnish an entire room just because you purchased a design service.

Which Service Is Better for Furniture Placement?

Spacejoy has the stronger case if furniture placement is your main problem.

Its emphasis on 3D visualization can make it easier to understand how furniture relates to the actual room. Spacejoy also focuses on detailed recommendations that extend beyond basic furniture and décor.

Havenly is still capable of handling layouts. Its full-service offering includes a floor plan and 3D rendering.

The difference is that Spacejoy positions detailed visualization as a central part of its service, while Havenly offers a broader, more streamlined online design experience.

Which Is Better for a Very Small Apartment?

If your living room is under roughly 150–200 square feet, do not automatically choose the service with the most furniture recommendations.

The real priority should be scale.

A designer should help you avoid:

Oversized sectionals
Deep sofas that consume walking space
Large coffee tables
Bulky entertainment centers
Too many accent chairs
Rugs that are too small or too large
Furniture that blocks windows or doors

For a very small room, Havenly is usually enough if you mainly need help selecting appropriately sized furniture.

If the room has an unusual layout or you cannot visualize how several pieces will fit together, Spacejoy may justify its higher starting price because of its stronger 3D-focused approach.

What About the Cost of Furnishing the Room?

The design fee is only part of your budget.

A typical living-room project can range from a modest refresh to several thousand dollars for a complete mid-range redesign. The actual amount depends heavily on what you already own and the quality, size, and number of furniture pieces you purchase.

For a small apartment, you can often spend less by designing around existing pieces instead of replacing everything.

A practical budget might look like:

Project type	Main goal
Refresh	Keep most furniture and add décor
Partial redesign	Replace one or two major pieces
Full redesign	Replace most furniture
Premium redesign	Higher-end furniture and custom details

The most expensive mistake is often buying the wrong large item first. A sofa that is too deep can create problems that no amount of décor can fix.

Havenly vs. Spacejoy for Existing Furniture

This is an important consideration that is easy to overlook.

If you already own a sofa, TV stand, coffee table, or dining furniture, tell the designer exactly what must stay.

Take clear photos and provide measurements. Mark anything that cannot move, including:

Windows
Doors
Radiators
Built-in shelving
Wall-mounted TVs
Electrical outlets
Heating and cooling equipment

This gives the designer a much better chance of creating something you can actually use.

Which Has Better Visualization?

Spacejoy wins this category.

Its service heavily emphasizes realistic 3D imagery and detailed designs, while also covering broader room elements such as flooring, paint, lighting, and window treatments.

Havenly also offers 3D rendering in its full-service online packages, so the difference is not that Havenly lacks visualization. The difference is more about how central detailed visualization is to the overall experience.

For a small room, that can be valuable because a floor plan tells you dimensions, while a realistic rendering can help you understand how crowded or open the finished room may feel.

Which Has the Better Shopping Experience?

Both services connect design recommendations with shopping, but they take somewhat different approaches.

Havenly provides a shoppable design plan and product recommendations, allowing you to purchase pieces from the plan.

Spacejoy promotes curated shopping, product alternatives, access to major retailers, and assistance with ordering.

For a small room, product alternatives can be especially useful. If the perfect sofa is six inches too wide, you need another option—not just a beautiful picture of something that cannot fit.

Which One Should You Choose?

Use this simple decision guide:

Choose Havenly if:

You want the lower starting design cost
Your room has a straightforward layout
You need help selecting furniture and décor
You want a collaborative but relatively simple process
You are furnishing a small apartment on a controlled budget
You already understand the basic dimensions of your room

Choose Spacejoy if:

You care heavily about realistic 3D visualization
Your room has a difficult layout
You need detailed furniture-placement guidance
You want help with more than furniture and accessories
You need product alternatives when something does not fit
You are comfortable paying more for a more visualization-focused service

What to Measure Before Ordering Either Service

Do not start with your style preferences alone.

Measure the room first.

Record:

Overall room length and width
Ceiling height
Door widths and locations
Window widths and locations
Distance between doors and walls
Existing furniture dimensions
TV dimensions
Radiators or vents
Built-in features
Any furniture that must remain

Take photos from several corners of the room.

Also measure your largest existing furniture piece. In a small living room, a six-inch difference can completely change the layout.

Common Mistakes to Avoid With Online Small-Room Design

Buying Furniture Before the Layout Is Finished

Do not order the sofa first simply because you found a good deal.

The sofa determines how much space remains for everything else.

Ignoring Walking Paths

A room can look attractive in a rendering and still feel annoying in daily life if you have to squeeze between the sofa and coffee table.

Leave comfortable circulation space around the furniture instead of filling every empty area.

Using Too Many Small Pieces

Small rooms do not always look larger when you use lots of small furniture.

Several tiny tables, chairs, shelves, and decorations can create visual clutter. A few appropriately scaled pieces often work better.

Choosing a Rug That Is Too Small

A tiny rug floating in the middle of the room can make the seating area feel disconnected.

The rug should help visually connect the major furniture pieces rather than acting like a small island.

Forgetting Vertical Storage

When floor space is limited, walls become valuable.

Tall bookcases, floating shelves, wall-mounted lighting, and vertical cabinets can provide storage without taking up as much floor area.

Havenly or Spacejoy: The Bottom Line

For most people looking for small living room design, Havenly is the better starting point. Its lower entry price, designer collaboration, floor plan, 3D rendering, and shoppable recommendations cover the main problems that small-room owners face.

Choose Spacejoy instead if visualization and detailed room planning are your top priorities. Its higher starting price can make sense when you want realistic 3D designs, detailed room elements, designer collaboration, and product alternatives.

Before paying for either service, measure the room carefully and identify every piece that must stay. For a small living room, accurate measurements and realistic furniture scale will usually matter more than choosing between two similar decorating styles.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Havenly or Spacejoy better for a small apartment?

Havenly is generally the better value for a small apartment with a straightforward layout. Spacejoy is worth considering when the apartment has an unusual floor plan or you need more detailed 3D visualization before buying furniture.

Is Spacejoy more expensive than Havenly?

Spacejoy generally has a higher starting design price than Havenly, although package prices and promotions can change. Furniture purchases are separate from the design fee.

Can Havenly or Spacejoy design around furniture I already own?

Yes. You should provide photos, exact measurements, and clear instructions about which pieces must remain. This is especially important in a small living room because existing furniture can determine the entire layout.

Havenly or Spacejoy for Small Living Room Design?

Havenly vs. Spacejoy at a Glance

Which One Is Better for a Small Living Room?

Choose Havenly If You Want Simplicity and Value

Choose Spacejoy If Visualization Is Your Biggest Concern